Better yet, over the last decades, oceans have been an incredible source of information about the evolution of the animal kingdom. And that includes the breathtaking oceans - but why did they stop exploring? Our oceans play a major role in influencing changes in the world's climate and weather," the agency says on its website. But both of these missions conduct explore the oceans from space. The video contains a black and white video footage of a submarine and theres a text overwritten on it along with narration from an unidentified person who says: NASAs original mission was searching the oceans. Later, scientists were convinced that organisms on the ocean floor survived off dead organic matter the carcasses of animals, faeces and the steady fall of other organic detritus or marine snow drifting down from above. Scientists at NASA are attempting to study this region and investigate the boundaries of life on earth by studying the. But did they ever explore the oceans, and even if they did, why did. And discovering the mysteries of the deep. Why Did NASA Stop Exploring the Ocean? Plenty of ancient civilizations whose cities now lie underwater have also been explored, such as Palvopetri in Greece. The Space Age started in 1957 with the launch of the Soviet satellite Sputnik." When considering the scale of the oceans, the amount of knowledge yet to be . As suggested by studies, the hadal zone supports a rich (although alien) ecosystem life. Over 70 percent of the Earth's surface lies below a large saltwater body- the global ocean. Moreover, it is also rumored that we know more about the lands of Mars and the Moon than we know about our own planets ocean floor. This service is provided on News Group Newspapers' Limited's Standard Terms and Conditions in accordance with our Privacy & Cookie Policy. The NASA website also includes another reasonthe agency conducts ocean exploration. Carried out in collaboration with the German Aerospace Center or DLR, the incentive ended because the GRACE-2 satellite had to be retired because of its age. Besides these objects of fascination, scientists have recently learned that the earths ocean depths harbor similar conditions found on other worlds within our Solar System. So you think you can fashion your future with wearables? This video, along with others like it, led many people to believe that NASA had stopped exploring the ocean because they had found something they couldnt tell us. So if NASA had such a strong interest in oceanography, why did the agency largely abandon its ocean exploration initiatives? Learn more about Ocean Exploration at . What secrets lie beneath the depths of the ocean? Guided by the view that the Earth is round, Columbus argued that he could sail west to reach "the east" (India and China). In other words: this claim is unfounded. NASA Was Not Founded To Explore Earths Oceans, The International Ocean Discovery Program. The mission also discovered that inhabitants of Aquarius, known as "aquanauts," could stay indefinitely and have nearly unlimited bottom time during their scuba dives from Aquarius. Judging by the latest incentives NASA has launched, the next years are bound to bring unprecedented breakthroughs for the fast-growing field. But did it ever explore the oceans, and why did it stop doing so? Nasa's space mission leads us to unexplored depths of our own planet. Modern Oceanography - from the late 19th century, William Frederick Mitchell/ Wikimedia Commons. NASA knows it." One reason is that the ocean plays a vital role in regulating the Earths climate. One of NASAs first projects was Project Mercury, which aimed to put a human being into orbit around the Earth. Where else can you find penguins and coral reefs in the same location? However, Seasat was not intended to be a long-term oceanographic mission. After the failure of standard emergency recovery protocols, the team initiated a search near the drive and spotted pieces of debris floating on the sea surface. And the good news is NASA hasn't yet decided to stop exploring the ocean - despite what some . About 70% of the planet is veiled by ocean bodies. Earth is really an ocean planet. And two NASA ESSP missions have set out to uncover these mysteries - these include the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) and the Aquarius mission. They held a meeting in June 2022 in Washington D.C., with a forthcoming meeting scheduled for the fall of 2022. The Sun website is regulated by the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO), Our journalists strive for accuracy but on occasion we make mistakes. The oceans of the world are warming up, their average temperatures pushed higher and higher each year by . Second, the ocean is very difficult to access. And hence, believes NASA, the earths ocean floor becomes a suitable testbed for scientists and researchers to develop the technology required to have a successful mission to one of the extraterrestrial-ocean worlds. We are independently owned and the views expressed here are our own. Through Orpheus, NASA wanted to find and recognize already existing areas of interest and shed light upon new biodiversity of the hadal zone. So while NASA does monitor the Earth's oceans, it does this from space, and not the sea. Throughout history, the oceans have been an essential source of survival, transportation, commerce, growth, and motivation. Other missions include Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) which launched on March 17, 2002, and ended on Oct. 12, 2017. But recently, a rumour, fanned by a viral video on TikTok has been claiming that the US agency was actually set up to explore the depths of the oceans but then later switched to space research. NASA launched the Aquarius mission, an incentive measuring ocean salinity levels from outer space, on June 10, 2011. As eye-catching of a story as that is, there's also no truth to it. In 1981, the agency launched the Coastal Zone Color Scanner (CZCS), which was a camera designed to study coastal areas and the properties of water. Some social media users are sharing a YouTube video that claims NASA halted ocean exploration efforts in 1978. Still, we need far more technological advances, such as deep sea submarines and sonars, to map its deeper parts. But despite this setback, NASA continued to fund ocean research through other initiatives. But in the ocean, life is found all the way from the surface to the very bottom of the deepest part. "Each mission provides its own unique contribution to our knowledge of the ocean.". Since then, there have been several other satellite missions observing the ocean, and NASA uses this data to study the impact oceans have on weather and climate change. Explorer Christopher Columbus (14511506) and his crew made four trips across the Atlantic Ocean from Spain: in 1492, 1493, 1498, and 1502. Third, the ocean is very expensive to explore. Almost 150 years after the first Challenger expedition, another expedition called the "Five Deeps", visited the deepest point in each of the Earths five oceans. All are meant to explore the envelope of what is known and understood about the physical, chemical and biological processes of the planet. But did it ever explore the oceans, and why did it stop doing so? At the end of a mission, aquanauts undergo a 17-hour decompression that is conducted within Aquarius itself, while on the bottom. There are several reasons why NASA stopped investigating the ocean. Related: Lunar SecretsGravity and the Giant Impact. Exploration is key to increasing our understanding of the ocean, so we can more effectively manage, conserve, regulate, and use ocean resources that are vital to our economy and to all of our lives. The other four 'deeps' were the Puerto Rico Trench in the Atlantic Ocean (27,480 feet/8,376 meters), South Sandwich Trench in the Southern Ocean (24,390 feet/7,434 meters), Java Trench in the Indian Ocean (23,917 feet/7,290 meters), and Molloy Deep in the Arctic Ocean (18,284 feet/5,573 meters). In 2008, the WHOI built the Nereus to plunge to the deepest parts of the ocean. From submerged icebergs to underwater volcanic eruptions to the Bermuda triangles and erratic whirlpools, the ocean has been the center of origination for all. By Joseph Maring Feb 17, 2023 The Webb Telescope's First Confirmed Exoplanet Is The Same Size As Earth However, the underwater vehicle imploded in 2014 (probably) due to the immense pressure. The National Aeronautics and Space Act, which created NASA, was passed in 1958 with the explicit purpose of conducting research into problems of flight within and outside the earths atmosphere.. The claim in the video is false. You can learn about health in other ways too! Its work is ongoing. If Mount Everest, which stands 8.84 kilometers (5.49 miles) tall, were placed in the Mariana or Philippine Trenches of the Pacific Ocean, two of the ocean's deepest regions, its peak would not even touch the surface of the water. However, in 2021 NASA partnered with deep-ocean explorers to develop tech for Europa mission - so the interest in ocean exploration is unlikely to decline anytime soon. And two NASA ESSP missions have set out to uncover these mysteries - these include the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) and the Aquarius mission. The same year, NASA also launched the Tiros-N satellite which was able to produce the first useful maps of sea surface temperature, thanks to its AVHRR sensor. This was followed by Project Gemini, which focused on developing the technology needed to perform space rendezvous and extra-vehicular activity (EVA), or spacewalks. For a time, NASA dedicated millions to uncovering them. As a result, NASA has been forced to rely on other agencies, like the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), to launch oceanographic satellites. At 5000 years old, this submerged city is considered the oldest of its kind on Earth. The IODP is a multinational effort that aims to explore the Earths oceans and better understand their role in global processes. A link to thevideo, which was posted on Facebook on Aug. 31, was shared more than125 times, according to Crowdtangle, a social media metrics tool. Despite historical oceanic quests and modern exploration technologies, only 5 percent of the oceans have been explored. They'd then note how much of the rope was submerged when the weight hit bottom. Read on to find out! Seasat was designed to study Earths oceans from space and collect data on things like sea surface temperature and waves. Aquarius scientists worked to understand the changing ocean and the condition of coral reefs - which are threatened locally, regionally and globally by increasing amounts of pollution, over-harvesting of fisheries, disease and climate change. This project is a collaboration with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and other organizations. Since the dawn of time, we have traversed the blue horizons in a quest for new nations and adventures. This expertise enabled them to travel and colonize many territories, including Newfoundland, Greenland, and Iceland. Let's compare the efficiency of a ship and a satellite. NASA currently runs around 80 programs, several of which bear the promise of revolutionizing the field of ocean exploration. "What did they discover down there?". As you might expect, this eeriness around the ocean leads some people's imaginations to run wild. While NASA makes headlines for exploring space, NOAA has been exploring the ocean. Despite modern technologies, only 5 percent of the oceans have been explored. Thanks to a combination of impossibly deep waters, immense pressure, and a. The entire project was focused on finding areas in the deep ocean with good analogous nature (to what is predicted to be active in places like Enceladus). NASA is the exploration agency of the Federal Government. For most people, it will be hard to establish relevance between NASA and ocean exploration. The TikTok page seems to allege that NASA dropped its programs aimed at exploring the Earth's oceans. So what happened that led to NASA largely abandoning its ocean exploration initiatives?